


One Of Those College AUs

by bibliomaniac



Series: Obligatory School AU [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Relationship, Multi, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:45:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6409342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bibliomaniac/pseuds/bibliomaniac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Through an abundance of Shenanigans, you and Sans are finally dating and happy and attending college together.</p><p>What could go wrong?</p><p>(Sequel to Obligatory High School AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Semester, First Class

**Author's Note:**

> here, finally, is the sequel to OHSAU that p much everybody requested lol! this is going to be a boring chapter bc its just setup but hopefully things'll get going soon

Okay, you know how Sans said that he doesn’t really care about college and the future and everything?

That’s kind of a huge lie.

It was so much easier to pretend to not be scared when he was in high school and concerned with Toriel and then you and then graduating. But it’s the first day of classes, and he is a little bit terrified. He has no idea what to expect, he has no idea what’s going on, he—

You kiss him, and his eyes close reflexively. “Hey. I can feel you worrying from over here. It’ll be all right, okay?”

“says the person who had an anxiety attack about whether college students wore backpacks or not,” he retorts, more out of principle than anything.

“Ha ha. Yes, but I’m over that now, and apparently they do, and now I’m telling you that things will be fine. Believe in the me who believes in you or whatever.”

“you’re a huge freaking nerd.”

“Says the huge freaking nerd.” You kiss him once more, on the cheek, and he grins despite his anxiety. “Text me when you get out of class, okay? You can do this.” Then you wave and leave in the direction of your first class.

He watches you until you’re out of sight, nods, and turns on his heel to enter the building. He can do this, yeah—

And, of course, he nearly runs in to somebody. 

“Whoa!” they yelp. “Watch it!”

“crap, uh, sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Sans smiles apologetically and continues his way into the room.

The guy he nearly ran into follows him. “dude, uh—“

“Oh, you have this class too? Cool.” Oh. That explains that then. Before Sans has time to be embarrassed by his misstep, the guy continues, “Nice to meet you, my name is Dominic. Nic to my friends. Dom to my lovers.” He winks. “Just kidding.”

“wow. do you say that to everybody you meet?”

“Only the cute ones,” he says cheerfully. “Just kidding! Thought it might break the ice. You seem kind of nervous. Freshman?”

Sans winces. “is it that obvious?”

“A little. But that’s okay, we all start somewhere.” Dominic opens the door for Sans and bounds ahead, patting the seat next to him. “Please. Anyway, what’s your name, then?”

Sans sits and says, “Sans. Sans the skeleton.” 

“Nice to meet you, Sans the skeleton. I’ve never met a skeleton before, you know, at least not one that’s outside of its flesh prison. Hey, can I touch your ribs?”

“only if you take me out on a date first.”

"Oh, gotcha, gotcha. Never mind, no touch-y.” He pauses for only a moment before launching into a new subject of conversation. “So, I saw you talking with that cutie earlier. Are you getting on that?”

“am I what?!”

“Getting on that,” Dominic enunciates clearly, as if the problem was that Sans couldn’t hear him well the first time. 

“I—they’re my datefriend, but—“

“So yes,” he interrupts. “Nice. Like I said, they’re cute.”

“uh…thanks?” Is this normal bro talk? Sans’ friends are mostly girls—Toriel, Alphys, Undyne—so he doesn’t really know. He isn’t sure he likes it.

“No problem.” His constant chatter is interrupted by the entrance of the teacher and subsequent bell ringing. Sans is almost grateful to hear the teacher start talking about the syllabus, even though it’s boring. Dominic is friendly, but a lot more brash than Sans is used to. Although…Sans realizes, slightly grudgingly, that all of his nerves about the first day have vanished. He supposes that maybe he should be grateful.

That’s why, when the class ends and Dominic casually asks, “Hey, dude, can I have your number?”, Sans says yes. Maybe he mellows out as you get to know him, he figures. And it can’t hurt to have a contact in the class to ask for notes.

He pulls out his phone to enter in Dominic’s number and smiles softly upon seeing a text from you.

“told you you could do it! <3”

“Aw,” comments Dominic lightly. “That your datefriend?”

“yeah.”

“That’s sweet. Anyway, my number is…” Sans enters in the number Dominic recites, but really he’s thinking about how he gets to see you again later.

He still can’t believe sometimes how lucky he is.

\-------------

You’re glad Sans is kind of oblivious sometimes, otherwise he might have noticed that you were still panicking about the first day as well. He didn’t need that from you right now. He needed somebody to comfort him, make things better. You could be that person, but only if he thinks you’re fine.

Biting your lip, you send out a text to Alphys. “i can’t do this”

She responds almost immediately, even though she’s probably in the middle of class. “yes you can!! everything will be fine, i promise”

“lol no it wont but thanks anyway i guess”

There’s a long pause, before, “whoops Gaster nearly confiscated my phone? he says stop worrying and just get to class lol”

Rolling your eyes fondly, you do as you’re told and make your way to your first class of the day. You sit down in the front, like normal, and wait for the class to start.

To your surprise and relief, it’s pretty much the same as your high school classes. The teacher goes over the syllabus and cracks a few jokes, earning scattered fake laughs from the students. Listening carefully to the assignments, you start to think that maybe you can do this after all.

The rest of the day goes pretty similarly, with teachers focusing almost entirely on the syllabus. You only have four classes this semester—your mom thought you should probably take it easy to start—but they’re all high credit classes with lots of material to cover. 

That said, you manage to get through the day relatively unscathed. You’re tired, sure, but feeling a lot more confident than you were at the start of the day. And most of all, you’re happy, because you get to spend the evening with Sans. 

Even all these months later, you’re still kind of amazed that you’re allowed to have him. He’s a bit of a jerk sometimes, sure, and lazy as all get-out, but he’s your lazy jerk and your best friend and you love him.

You’re pretty sure that will never change.


	2. First Semester, Second Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: mention of infidelity

The first thing Sans does when you open the door to greet him is kiss you, long and slow.

It’s nice and all, but it’s also letting the bugs in, and you’re like ninety-nine percent certain that your roommate is watching, if the whooping from behind you is any indication. 

You wrench yourself away and he pouts. “what?”

“Sans…” You hurriedly look over your shoulder at your roommate, who smirks and waves. “We’re not exactly alone, you know.”

“we could be,” he suggests in a low voice, glaring at your roommate, who puts up her hands in a placating manner and backs into her room.

“That wasn’t very nice,” you chide as you guide him over to the couch, immediately plopping down and snuggling up to him. “It’s her place too.”

“i’ll apologize later,” he says indifferently. “right now i want to be with you.”

“Hard day?”

“just long. and i missed you.”

You duck your head and smile at that. You spent pretty much all your time together over the summer, so this will be an adjustment, but you can’t say you’re complaining about how honest it’s made him.

Clearing his throat awkwardly and changing the subject, he asks, “so, what movie do you want to watch tonight?”

“Are you up for some MST3K?”

“forever and always.”

You hook up your computer to the small TV screen and start playing the movie, rejoining him on the couch as quickly as possible. As the opening scene plays, you chat mindlessly about your respective first days—how the classes went, how you like your teachers, stuff like that. 

“oh, i actually made…well, not a friend? but an acquaintance, i guess.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s their name?”

“Dominic. he’s kind of a character. he saw you and me together and asked me if i was, direct quote, ‘getting on that’.”

You giggle. “Wow. How did you respond to that?”

“i just said you were my datefriend, and he said ‘so yes’, like this is normal first-meeting talk. but i guess i shouldn’t be surprised, given that he introduced himself with a BDSM joke.”

You start to respond, but are interrupted by your phone buzzing. You’re waiting on a text back from Alphys, so you take your phone out of your pocket and check it casually.

Your face immediately darkens to a scowl.

“whoa, what’s the matter?”

You huff. “It’s my dad. He’s saying he hopes I had a good first day.”

“um…is that…a bad thing?”

“Not by itself, I just…I hate it when he pretends like he’s actually my dad. Like, he forgets he is half the time, and then I’m supposed to respond like nothing ever happened?”

Sans knows that you have issues with your dad, but you’ve always been sort of cagey about the subject. “i mean…i get it, but, what is it that actually happened in the first place?”

You stiffen next to him, and he curses his curiosity. “never mind, you don’t have to answer, just—“

“No, it’s fine. I, um…I didn’t know myself until the first year of high school, you know? I was going over their divorce records one day and I just sort of put the pieces together, and…”

He waits patiently while your hand fists in the blanket, clenching and unclenching.

“Basically…and you can’t tell anyone this, all right? I’m not supposed to talk about this.”

“yeah, of course.” He squeezes your hand comfortingly.

“He cheated on my mom. With my stepmom. Which is…I mean, they’re a lot happier with their respective partners now, and all. Like, he was kind of abusive to my mom. It’s good she got away. But I can’t really forgive him for it. Every time I think about it I just get so angry.” Your face is twisted in a frown, and tears are starting to bead up at the corners of your eyes. “I just don’t understand how somebody could do something like that. I get it’s not all that simple, but…it just…”

He pulls you into him and strokes your shoulder, and that’s when the tears start coming in earnest. “shhh. sh, it’s okay. you’re okay. i’ve got you.” He peppers small kisses all over your face, trying to calm you down. “thank you for telling me. i love you, okay?”

“I love you too,” you sniffle, composing yourself. “Which is sort of weird, actually.”

“huh? what’s weird about it?” he asks in mock offense.

“I…before I met you, I didn’t really think love existed. Like, I knew some people acted like they loved each other. But…it sort of felt like…that’s all it was, you know? Acting. Like they thought they had to to be happy. I thought it could never last in the real world, that something would always happen. I just didn’t think it was actually real.” You pause. “Or maybe that’s not quite right. Maybe love existed, but it just didn’t for me.”

“________— “ he begins, feeling guilty that he had joked about something that was obviously so important. How is it that this had never come up before?

You smile at Sans. “And then I met you. And—I know this sounds really cheesy, okay, so bear with me. But you made me believe that maybe love existed, and maybe I could have it, and maybe things didn’t have to go wrong. Maybe I could just be in love with you, and things could be all right.” You nuzzle into him, yawning slightly. “So thank you for that.”

His SOUL swells, and it seems like all he can think of to do is kiss you. So he does. He kisses you until you’re both breathless, then just holds you, foreheads together. “i’m glad it was me,” he murmurs. “i’m glad you chose me.”

“Me too.” 

You finish the rest of the movie together in relative silence, just enjoying being together. When curfew hits and Sans has to go home, you wave and watch him go until he vanishes into the night. Then you go into your room and flop down on the bed.

You text Alphys, “are you ever so happy it feels like it can’t last”

“all the time #relatable”

“well. for some reason it feels like it can actually last forever rn”

“you’re always so mushy after sans comes over lol”

“haha! tru, tru (but same goes for you and undyne, hypocrite)”

You leave it at that, but as you turn off the lights to go to sleep, you can’t help but smile. Things are actually going your way, for once, and you wonder if it’s all right to just be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *chanting over ominous music in background* fluff, fluff, fluff
> 
> IS IT OBVIOUS ENOUGH YET THAT THINGS ARE GONNA GO DOWNHILL LOL


	3. First Semester, Third Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: alcohol, drunkenness

It turns out Dominic grows on a person, sort of. Or at least he tries to.

“Hey, dude, welcome back! Glad you survived your first day.”

“Hey, man, wanna partner up for today’s class activity?”

“Call me Nic, we’re pals, aren’t we?”

“Bro, you. Me. Group project.”

That last proclamation comes around midterms, when Sans’ teacher announces that they’re writing a group paper in clusters of two or more. Normally he would rankle at the assumption, but Sans is more or less used now to Nic’s exuberant personality. So he accepts, rolling his eyes at Nic’s proffered fist but bumping it nonetheless. 

“When do you wanna meet up to discuss the paper? I’m free Tuesday and Thursday evenings.”

Sans hesitates. “______ and i usually hang out those days, so…”

“Dude, come on. It’s one night. They’ll understand. It’s for a class, yeah?”

“yeah, i guess. Tuesday then. is seven ok?”

“Seven is great. See you then!” With that, he shoulders his backpack and waves over his shoulder on his way out of the classroom.

Sans pulls out his phone to let you know. “hey _______? sry but we can’t do movie night tomorrow, i have to work on an assignment with nic”

You text him back almost immediately. “all right! have fun lol”

“youre not mad?”

“what? of course not? its for school. like ill miss you but?”

“ok. thanks. see you thursday tho?”

“wouldnt miss it for the world <3”

Tuesday comes, and Nic shows up at Sans’ house fifteen minutes late. “Sorry, bro! I got distracted.”

“yeah, it’s ok. listen, i was thinking we could do the paper on—“

“So serious first thing! Let’s get to the paper later, okay? We have plenty of time. Look, there’s this UCylindr video I wanted to show you, it’s hilarious—“

Sans clenches his teeth. This is why he hates group projects. He doesn’t really consider himself the most conscientious student—he skips out on classes sometimes, and sometimes he doesn’t bother doing assignments either if he knows he can get away with it—but somehow, he always manages to get paired up with people who care even less about their grades than he does, which means he has to step up and be responsible. He hates being responsible.

That said, he doesn’t really want to bother saying anything, so he watches the UCylindr video (nine minutes! Who shows somebody a nine-minute video?!) without complaint.

“so, the paper—“

Nic pouts. “Seriously? Already?”

Sans frowns. “yes, already. we need to at least talk about it.”

“Fine. I didn’t think you were boring.”

“i’m not boring!”

“You’re kind of being boring, dude.”

“and you’re kind of being a douche,” Sans responds, frustrated. “look, it’s almost 7:30. i don’t want this to take forever.”

Nic is uncharacteristically quiet for a moment, before he says coldly, “You know, I thought we were friends.”

“huh? we are—“

“Friends hang out, don’t they?”

“yeah, but—“

“So stop being like this. You’re hurting my feelings. I was super excited about coming over tonight, and you’re really just—“ He shakes his head. “Whatever. Forget it.”

Sans feels bad now. “i didn’t mean—i just—“ He exhales and scratches his head. “i’m sorry. i’m just stressed out about this paper.”

“It’s fine, I guess.” His easy smile is back. “Let’s just relax, yeah? No need to stress.”

“yeah, okay.”

In the end, they spend the entire time they had scheduled to meet watching videos and laughing together. At 9, Nic excuses himself.

“Same time on Thursday?”

“i—“ Sans feels conflicted. He doesn’t want to blow you off again, but at the same time, he really needs to get this paper done. “yeah. fine.”

He feels even worse when he pulls out his phone before going to bed for the night and sees a text from you. “how did it go tonight? have fun?”

“yeah, i guess, but…we didn’t finish talking about the paper. he’s only free tth so i need to cancel for thursday also. im sorry”

Your heart stings a bit as you read the text, but you force yourself to reply, “that’s fine!”

“thx babe. ur the best”

“lol i know”

You chastise yourself for feeling down about this. It’s for school, and besides, you’re not the kind of person that can’t go a week without seeing their boyfriend. You’re stronger than that.

Still, when you go to sleep, you can’t help but feel a bit lonely.

\--------------

Nic arranges to meet Sans at his house this time, but when Sans gets to the door, he can tell something is up. The door is open, the lights inside are low, and there’s a low, thumping bass line coming from the living room.

Sans wanders inside and is accosted by Nic, who throws an arm around his shoulders. “Dude, hey! Welcome.”

Sans sniffs and makes a face. “seriously? you smell like a distillery.”

“That is because I am extremely drunk,” Nic informs Sans sagely. “Somebody brought vodka.”

“somebody? why are there other people here anyway? aren’t we going to talk about the paper?”

“You and that paper,” Nic says breezily. “If you love it so much you should just—just marry it, right? Haha.”

“i’m leaving.”

“Nooooo, stay!” He stumbles, nearly bringing Sans down with him. “Look, I have special punch for you. It’s…” He giggles. “Special.”

“i’m not drinking.”

“No alcohol! Does it smell like alcohol?” Nic asks somebody passing, who smells it and shakes their head. “See? No alcohol. Come on, drink some, drink—“

Just to shut him up, Sans takes a small sip of the punch. Then some more. It’s actually quite good.

A relaxed feeling spreads over him, and he starts wondering why he wanted to leave in the first place. This is a party, right? Sans likes parties. Probably. 

A couple of glasses more of the punch, and Sans decides he definitely likes parties. The music is loud, and he feels kind of floaty, and Nic is a terrible dancer.

More punch, and all of a sudden Sans is on the floor, and isn’t that hilarious? This is a nice floor, and he likes it just as much as he likes parties, which is a lot. Nic is next to him, laughing hysterically with his arm still looped around Sans’ shoulder.

“H-hey, Sans. Sans the man. Sans, Sans.”

“yeah?”

“I have a—a secret, yes, a secret secret,” Nic whispers importantly to Sans. “Actually, several. But one in particular.”

“what is it?” whispers Sans back, because apparently that’s what they’re doing now.

“You know how I said there was no alcohol in that punch?”

“uh-huh?”

“I lied!” He bursts out into peals of high-pitched laughter. “Oh, man. I totally lied. There is—so much alcohol in that punch, Sans? Just. So much.”

Sans considers this information, then shrugs. “okay.”

He figures that you might like to know the secret, so he pulls out his phone and texts you about it.

“_______ it ha db alco hol.”

“what?”

“Th e pu nchhh? it aprrnanetly ha dsi =much alcohol? Snd now I love parti es”

The next answer comes slowly. “Sans…are you drunk?”

Sans looks at the phone, then at Nic. “hey, Nic. am i drunk?”

“Very,” affirms Nic happily.

“yes,” he texts you. “very. nick say”

There’s a long pause, then you finally text back. “Do you need me to come pick you up?”

“but i lieke parties”

“I understand that you like parties, but I don’t want you walking home like that. Can you give me Nic’s address?”

Through a lot of trial and error, Sans finally sends you Nic’s address. 

“Awwww,” Nic complains. “I wanted you to stay. You know why?”

Sans shakes his head, very curious about the answer.

Nic gets very close, then murmurs, “It’s another secret.”

After that, everything goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know how they say write what you know?
> 
> i am bad at that advice which is why i wrote parties and getting drunk lol. a+ writing technique amirite
> 
> anyway i hate this chapter but here it is anyway!!!!!!


	4. First Semester, Fourth Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: noncon kiss, extremely manipulative behavior, blackmail

When Sans wakes up, he’s on his couch and his head hurts. Like, really bad.

Groaning, he flounders around until his hand nearly knocks over a glass of water. Blearily, he stares at the glass of water, which is accompanied by some pills.

What even happened last night to lead to this? He takes the pills and gulps down the water before pulling out his phone to see if there are any clues.

And there are. Oh boy, are there. He blanches as he reads the text conversation with you.

Crap. Capitalization and proper punctuation. You were pissed.

And, he recalls with mortification, so was he. Double crap. How could he fall for such an obvious trick? Why would he believe Dominic when he said that there was no alcohol? Of course there was alcohol. It was a college party.

He can’t recall getting home, nor anything after Dominic—he refuses to call him Nic after last night—promised to tell him another secret, but he’s guessing you got involved from the conversation and from the pills. He should…probably thank you. And apologize.

“um…hey”

You read, but don’t respond.

“im. sorry about last night. thank you for getting me home”

An agonizing five minutes pass before you finally say something. “Sans, what were you thinking?”

“er”

“Look, it’s your business if you want to go to a party. It’s your business if you want to get drunk, even. But at least be responsible about it? If you hadn’t texted me, how were you planning on getting home?”

“i wasn’t planning on getting drunk at all! dominic spiked the punch and i didnt know. i didnt even know there was going to be a party. he said we were just going to work on the paper and when i got there all of a sudden there was a party happening im sorry”

Anxiously, he waits for your response. Finally, you say, “Is that the truth?”

“i would never lie to you please believe me im sorry”

“…all right. fine. i’ll believe you. but please never worry me like that again, okay?”

He releases a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. “thank you thank you! im so sorry”

“yeah yeah. but…look, if that’s what happened, then this nic is kind of a crappy friend no offense?”

“no, ur totally right.”

You are right, and he really needs to talk to Dominic.

He doesn’t get the opportunity—or seek one out, really—until Monday. Dominic greets Sans normally, and Sans just frowns and shakes his head. Dominic is surprisingly quiet the rest of the period.

All that changes when the bell rings and class lets out. Sans catches Dominic by the arm and says, “we need to talk.”

“Yeah, we do.” Dominic is frowning too, now. “You didn’t talk to me all weekend. Why?”

“i didn’t really want to.”

“Look, if this is about—“

“i’ll tell you what this is about. this is about you lying, and getting me drunk, and being generally a manipulative bastard. i don’t want to talk to you anymore, and i don’t want you to talk to me, you understand? please just leave me alone from now on.”

Dominic is silent. When he speaks up again, his tone is flat. “I’m afraid that isn’t going to work for me, Sans.”

“huh?”

“Don’t you remember our secret?”

“the secret about there being alcohol in the punch? yeah, sorta figured that one out—“

“No. The other secret.” Dominic smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. 

Sans takes a step back. “no. i don’t remember much.”

“Pity. It’s a good thing I thought to take a picture.” Dominic fishes out his phone and brings up a picture on it. “See?”

On the screen is a picture of Dominic kissing Sans directly on the teeth.

“you—i—“

“See, it makes me really sad that you’re saying all of these mean things, Sans, after I told you my secret. That’s not very nice, you know? And it only hurts more because I like you so much.”

Sans is speechless, so Dominic shrugs and continues.

“Anyway. I guess you could leave me, but I really don’t think you want to.”

Blustering, Sans ekes out, “w-what makes you say that?”

“Because I also have your precious datefriend’s number. Snagged it off your phone last night while you were out. And if we don’t stay the very best of friends, they get to see what I just showed you. And that would be a real bummer, don’t you think?”

Sans’ eyes go wide. “you wouldn’t.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I so would.” Dominic swoops in and kisses Sans’ cheek, then starts to walk away, calling out behind him, “I think we’re going to get to know each other very well.”

All Sans can do is clap a hand to his cheek and stare.

\---------------

That evening, you text Sans, “so did you talk to nic?”

He can’t get that picture out of his head. You would be heartbroken. Especially…oh, crap, especially with the whole situation with your parents. You would never, ever forgive him. He can’t tell you the truth. So, unwillingly, he texts you back, “uhm…yeah. he apologized, said it wouldn’t happen again. so we’re cool now.”

“huh?? i mean…is that something that you can really let go with an apology?”

“drop it, please. like i said. were cool now.”

“um…ok. so, movie night tomorrow?”

He’s about to say yes, of course, he misses you so much he can barely stand it, when his phone buzzes with another incoming text. It’s from Dominic.

“how about just you and me hang out tomorrow night?”

Then another.

“you can say no but :)”

He can’t do this. He can’t do this to you.

He has to.

“crap sorry promised tomorrow to nic. um…thursday?”

The pang in your heart grows even more pronounced.

“Oh. Um. Sure!”

You shut off your phone before he can respond and curl up into your blankets.

You can do this. You’re fine. You have Sans and you’re happy. You’re fine. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cant believe im actually writing this ridiculous claptrap
> 
> somebody save me from the nothing ive become


	5. Second Semester, First Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: controlling, manipulative behavior that probably borders on emotional abuse, ableist language

It was a few days, then a few weeks, then a month exactly.

It’s been a month since you’ve seen Sans, and you’re not so sure you have him anymore.

You still text. In fact, he texts you like it’s his lifeline, desperately and frequently, but it’s not the same.

You don’t cry about it anymore. You cried to Alphys at first, and she was sympathetic if confused as to the cause of this sudden rift between you—join the club—but then it kept happening and you just got numb.

You just…wish he’d do something about it, at least, instead of keeping on leaving you hanging like this. Explain, or stop texting you, or break up with you. Sometimes you wonder why you just don’t do it yourself. Is it some kind of nostalgia? Trying to give him credit for all the time you had been friends? You don’t know, but you just can’t bring yourself to say the words. Heaven knows you’ve typed them out before, but you’ve never sent them.

Because you’re hurting, but you still love him.

\----------

Sans is breaking. Or maybe he’s already broken. Maybe he always has been, but he never realized it, because you always kept him together.

It’s been a month since he’s seen you, and he isn’t feeling very together at all.

He only sees Dominic and Dominic’s friends now. It’s funny almost, in a sick sort of way. It’s funny how he can spend almost all his time around other people and still feel so lonely, so completely isolated. His sole refuge lies in texting you and Toriel, though he hasn’t told either what’s really going on. 

Toriel pretty obviously knows something is up, but he knows if he tells her then she’ll tell you, and he can’t let that happen. Not after all he’s suffered. This all has to be for something, right?

It’s all for you, and that’s all that keeps him going. Every time Dominic says hello, every time he places a possessive hand on his shoulder, he just has to tell himself that. It’s all to protect you from…well, not the truth, but from Dominic’s twisted version of it.

Then, one day, while Dominic is over watching some horror movie—Sans hates horror, but he’s too afraid to tell Dominic that—the doorbell rings. “Hey, can you get that, hon?”

(Sans still cringes at that one, at least internally. He doesn’t dare show it, though.)

He opens the door and is met with the hardest slap he’s ever felt.

Rubbing his sore cheek, he looks out the door.

It’s Toriel.

He immediately flies forward and pulls her into a hug. “Toriel!”

“Get off me,” she hisses. “How dare you. How dare you!”

Shocked, he lets go. From behind, he feels Dominic latch onto him, resting his chin on Sans’ head. “Who is this, babe?”

“um…my best friend.”

“Oh?” asks Dominic lightly.

Toriel is fuming. “You, get off him. And you, come outside. We seriously need to talk.”

“can I?” asks Sans hopefully. “we haven’t seen each other in ages.”

Dominic considers. “I don’t know…”

“please?”

He sighs. “All right. But be fast, okay? This movie is just getting to the good part.”

“thank you!” Forgetting that Toriel is mad at him, he takes her hand and goes out the door, almost skipping as he closes it behind him.

He remembers pretty quickly, though, when she shakes off his hand with a look of disgust. “You. You don’t get to touch me.”

“Toriel? i—“

“No. You listen to me. You are my best friend, okay? But _______ is my friend too.”

Oh. Crap. A wave of nausea starts to rise up in him.

“um—it’s not—“

“It’s not what? Alphys told me everything, Sans. I knew you had been acting weird lately, but I didn’t know you had suddenly become a jerk. Do you know how much you’ve made them cry? And who’s this guy, huh? Are you seriously two-timing them, because I swear—“

“no! i would never!”

Toriel glares at Sans. “Then you had better come up with a better explanation real fast before I slap you again.”

“it’s—you can’t tell them.”

“Tell them what?” Toriel snaps.

“promise! you can’t tell them!”

“…I will make that decision myself. What is it?”

He supposes that’s the best he’s going to get out of someone as straight-laced as Toriel, so he sighs and continues.

It feels good to tell someone, despite the fear lurking at the back of his mind that this will all go wrong somehow. He tells her everything—how Dominic has completely restricted all of his activities, including and especially contact with ________, and how he’s making them play at being boyfriends, and how he’s going along with all of it to keep _______ safe. He doesn’t realize until he says it out loud how far-fetched all of it sounds, but unfortunately, it’s the truth.

When he finishes, Toriel has her arms crossed and is tapping her feet.

“well?”

“Be quiet, I am processing.”

He shrinks back at that.

“I am trying to process how you can be such a big idiot.”

“hey—“ he protests.

“You’re saying you’re doing this to protect them? Maybe that’s what you’re telling yourself, but it’s not true! What you’re doing is making them miserable! Had you ever considered, you know, talking with them?”

“but—“

“No buts. Sans, you said they believed you when you told them about the party. Why wouldn’t they believe you that this Dominic guy had faked the picture? Besides, it’s just a kiss. It’s not like he has a picture of you two boning.”

Sans sputters at Toriel’s coarse language, but slowly, terror is spreading through him. Could she be right? Could he have done all this for nothing? Surely not, surely—

“Look. Talk with them. Tell them everything you just told me. I’m not saying you deserve to be forgiven at this point, but at least you can get away from Dominic, right? You look just as miserable as _______ does.”

He considers this, then asks quietly, “have you seen them, then?”

Toriel doesn’t answer. She just says, “Talk to them.” Then she turns on her heel and walks away.

Neither Sans nor Toriel notice that the door has opened a crack, and that Dominic is listening from inside. Listening, and calculating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *yodels over sad music* angst, angst, angst, angst


	6. Second Semester, Second Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: violence

You’re walking to your class when you’re stopped by someone with large hands and a cheerful voice.

“Whoa, hey! Don’t I know you?”

You look up at him, confused. “I don’t think so?”

“No, yeah! You’re friends with Sans.”

“Oh. Yeah.” You don’t really want to talk about Sans right now. “I’m guessing you know him too, then?”

Instead of responding, he extends a hand. “I’m Dominic, by the way. What’s your name?”

“________,” you respond on autopilot, but your brain is working overtime. So. This is Dominic, huh? The guy that Sans had decided he wanted to hang out with, like, all the time. You guess you can sort of see why. He seems like a nice enough person, or he would if you didn’t know about the party incident.

“Oh, right! That must be where I recognize you from, then. Sans has a few pictures of you on his phone.”

You should hope so. You used to take tons of pictures together. “Is that so.”

“Yeah.” Dominic smiles charmingly. “I wish he’d introduced us earlier. He never talks about his old friends.”

Ouch, that kind of hurts. You steel yourself and smile tightly. “Well, that’s Sans for you. Anyway, I sort of have to get to class, so—“

“Aw, come on. We just met. I’m guessing your class starts in like…fifteen minutes?”

You narrow your eyes. “Yeah, but I like to be early.”

“Just give me another five minutes, okay? I’d like to get to know you better.”

You check your phone, then sigh. “Okay. Five minutes. But then I really do have to go.”

“Yay!” He claps his hands together and gestures to a nearby bench. “I have this picture of Sans that you’ll just love. He’s making the worst face.”

You don’t really want to think about Sans, either, much less see pictures of him making weird faces, but you did promise the guy five minutes. “Okay.”

He starts flipping through his pictures when you see something that makes your heart stop.

It’s a picture of Sans and Dominic kissing.

Oh.

Casually, you ask, “So are you and Sans, like…together, then?”

“Oh, you saw that?” Dominic makes a face. “Sorry. Yeah, we’re kind of keeping it private right now, but…” He trails off, but the rest of the sentence is obvious.

You feel like you might throw up. “You know, sorry, but I actually just remembered I have to do something. So I’m going to get going right now after all.”

“Aw, but—“

“Sorry.” Leaving no room for argument, you rush away before he can see the tears starting to build.

And here you had promised yourself you would never cry over Sans again.

Crap. You should have known, really. Nobody just stops hanging out with you for a month for no reason, especially when it’s your datefriend. Knowing Sans, he’s probably feeling too guilty to say anything. And he should, of course, but…numbly, you wonder why he couldn’t just have told you, gotten it over with. Why did you have to find out from Dominic, of all people? Does Sans even care about you at all anymore?

Did he ever care about you?

You try to stop the tears from flowing—you’re on a campus, darn it, this is so embarrassing—but you can’t, because you know the answer.

No. Nobody who cared about you would do something like this. 

You feel like the silliest person in the world for ever believing him when he said he loved you. Who would love you, anyway? People like you don’t deserve love. You should have known that.

You should have known love didn’t exist for you after all.

\---------------

It’s taken Sans all day to work up the courage to finally call you. You haven’t texted him today, but you always respond to phone calls, even though he knows you hate them.

He calls you five times before you pick up.

To his surprise, it’s not you. It’s Alphys, sounding more sure than he’s ever heard her when she says with hatred dripping from her voice, “Don’t call again, scumbag,” then hangs up.

After that, he tries walking to your house and ringing the doorbell.

Alphys answers, and her face immediately twists. “No.” She starts to close the door, but Sans sticks out a hand.

“wait—“

“Leave!”

“but—“

“They don’t want to see you, okay? Just go—“

And then you walk up behind Alphys, and in that moment, you’re the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. He can’t stop a smile from spreading across his face.

But then he looks at you, really looks at you. You look tired, pale. Your eyes are red from crying, and you’re hugging a pillow like it’s the only thing keeping you together.

“Sans…” You exhale quietly. “Please. Please go. Please stop calling. I can’t…” To his horror, tears start spilling over in your eyes. “I can’t do this. I can’t see you.”

“but—we haven’t seen each other in so long—and—“

“And whose fault is that?” Alphys asks, venom lacing her voice. You hold up your hand, and Alphys frowns, but steps back.

“Look, I know why you’re here. I’m guessing Dominic said something? But…I’m just not ready yet. Maybe someday I’ll be able to talk to you about this. But not right now, Sans. So please stop trying to talk to me.” With that, you close the door while Sans gapes.

The only thing that registers in his mind is Dominic.

He did something.

In a rage, he transports himself to Dominic’s house without even really thinking about it. He pounds on the door and yells, “Dominic!”

Dominic opens the door with a pleasant smile. “Hello! I wasn’t expecting you over today.”

“like hell you weren’t,” Sans snarls. “what did you say to ________?”

“Oh, that,” Dominic says disinterestedly. “It gets really boring how you yammer on about them, you know—“

Sans slams his hand into the wall next to him. “tell me. what you said. to ________.”

“Jeez, okay. I didn’t really tell them anything.” He smiles innocently. “I just showed them a picture, is all. They made their own conclusions from there.”

And suddenly, everything makes sense. Sans’ eyes go wide.

“you didn’t.”

“Oh, but sweetheart, I did.”

“you—why—i did everything you asked! i gave up everything, and you—“

“You were going to leave me,” says Dominic coldly. “I heard your conversation with your little friend yesterday night. You were going to tell, and then you were going to leave me. So I told first. Simple as that.”

Sans doesn’t have blood, he thinks, but whatever he does have is roaring in his ears right now. He can barely hear Dominic as he continues angrily, “I don’t understand why you keep doing this to me. What’s wrong with me, huh? Don’t I love you enough? Can’t I be enough for you? I—“

Sans punches Dominic in the face. Hard. 

Then, he walks away, like he should have done a long time ago.


	7. Second Semester, Third Class

For a while after that Sans just walks around. He doesn’t really know where to go. You don’t want to see him, obviously, and there’s no Grillby’s to go to, and he doesn’t really want to go home.

Sighing, he wonders where things went so wrong. Is it even possible to fix this? Has he finally messed things up to the point where there’s no going back? He’s never felt this hopeless, or so lonely. 

He wishes he could talk to you, that you could snuggle up to him and tell him everything would be all right like you used to. 

But that’s not going to happen, and he doesn’t know if things are going to be all right, either.

Pulling out his phone, he scrolls through his contacts despondently. You’re not an option. Toriel is mad at him. Alphys is mad at him. He’s not really close to Asgore. Dominic…no. He deletes that as soon as he sees it. Papyrus is just a kid.

He gets to his dad and considers. They haven’t really talked in a while. But…

“Dad”

To his credit, Gaster doesn’t ask any questions. There’s not any ‘why haven’t you texted me’ or ‘how are you doing’ or ‘how’s that datefriend of yours’. Just a simple, “Yes, Sans?”

“what do you do when everything is going wrong and there’s no way to make it right”

The response is a long time coming, but finally Gaster replies, “You try to move forward. That’s all you can do.”

“how”

“One day at a time.” A pause, then, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“not unless you can reverse time lol”

“I’m afraid not. But…as unhelpful as this probably is, know that both Papyrus and I are always here for you.”

“even if i made a really big mistake?”

“Even then.”

“…thanks”

When he looks up from his phone, he realizes his feet have taken him to your apartment again. He stares at your door. The lights are on inside.

Is this what it’s going to be like from now on? Him outside your door, you inside, living without him? 

No, he decides. Not if he can do anything about it.

Charging up to the door with a bravado he doesn’t feel, he rings the doorbell with a shaking hand.

You answer. The look on your face is inscrutable.

“where’s Alphys?” he asks, then winces.

“She had to go home,” you answer. “Sans, why are you here?”

“i didn’t cheat on you,” he responds. “and, um…i just wanted you to know that. so…yeah.” Scratching his head, he looks away.

You tilt your head, still staring at him. Then you exhale lightly and open the door a little wider. “Come in. I don’t owe you the chance to explain yourself, but…” You shrug with a small, painful little smile on your face. “I’m the nicest person in the world, yeah?”

He looks back up at you wonderingly.

“Come on, before I change my mind.”

He scampers through the doorway and starts to make his way to the couch before you place a chair in front of the couch and indicate that he should sit in it. Oh. Right. 

“um…so…”

You curl up on the couch in a blanket and hug a pillow tightly, looking up at him expectantly. He recognizes the pose and winces again. You only close yourself off like this when you’re really in a bad state.

“i’m sorry.”

Your face hardens, and he hurriedly continues, “i know that doesn’t change anything, but…i wanted to say it at least once before i started. this entire situation…i realize now that i dealt with it completely wrong, and you’re the one who had to bear the brunt of it. um…so. i’m sorry.”

“Get on with it, please.”

“right. so i guess it started the night of the party. before you got there, i blacked out. i don’t remember anything that happened, but the next day when i went to talk to Dominic and tell him that we couldn’t be friends anymore, he showed me a picture. he’d taken a picture of him kissing me while i was unconscious, and he told me he would show you if i didn’t keep being friends with him. i guess i wasn’t thinking very straight. all i could think was that i couldn’t let him show you, because it would destroy you. i never wanted you to think that i had betrayed you like that, especially with your parents, and…it scared me so much, to think that i could lose you.” 

He hesitates, but you don’t say anything, so he continues. “after that, he started making even more demands. to hang out with him, mostly, but always on the nights i had made plans with you. and the more i gave in to him, the more audacious he got. he called me pet names, and touched me all the time…nothing too inappropriate, but it made me really uncomfortable. but i kept telling myself it was worth it, even if i was so unhappy, because it kept you from getting hurt. that’s what i thought, anyway. i guess part of me knew i was hurting you by never seeing you, but by that time, it was too late. i really thought my only option was to stay with Dominic.”

Your face is still in that carefully neutral expression. Pressing onward, he says miserably, “Toriel came to see me last night while Dominic was over. i guess Alphys had told her how you were feeling, and she came to yell at me and ask me what i was doing. i told her what was happening, and she told me to talk to you and tell you what i had just told her. and i was going to, but Dominic was listening, and so he found you on campus and showed you the picture, and—now everything is even worse, and you hate me, and everything i did was for nothing, and i’m starting to wonder if it was even worth it in the first place—“

“No, it wasn’t.”

Your tone is flinty, and he flinches as he glances at you.

“Of course it wasn’t worth it, Sans. Because if you had just come to me, I would have believed you. If you had talked to me, I would have understood, and none of this would have happened. You know what’s the most ridiculous thing? You expected I wouldn’t believe you then, but now you’re telling me all this after a month apart, and you’re expecting me to believe you now.”

“but it’s true!“ he protests.

“Of course it is. You’re a terrible liar,” you say dismissively. “But the issue isn’t whether it’s true or not, it’s that you didn’t trust me enough to understand that I knew that.”

“it’s not about trust, it’s—“

“It is about that, Sans. You didn’t trust me to have faith in you, and now we’re here. You didn’t want to hurt me? Are you kidding me? How do you think I felt when, week after week, you told me you’d rather hang out with Dominic than me?”

“but he—“

“Look.” You carefully put down the pillow next to you and steeple your hands. “I get it. You got taken in by the lies of a manipulative douche who presented this situation as one where you’d either have to sacrifice yourself or lose me, and you chose to sacrifice yourself.” You huff bitterly. “And, I mean, of course you did. You are exactly that kind of person. I am too.”

He can’t disagree with that, as much as he’d like to.

“But at the same time, you failed to realize that doing so meant sacrificing me as well. And I don’t know how I’m supposed to just get over that.” You frown, frustrated. “It’s like, now if I don’t forgive you, I’m a jerk, but if I do, I’m a doormat. You’ve put me in a really crappy position.”

“i’m…sorry?” 

“I would say it’s okay, but it’s not, really, and that’s the problem. I know I seem really calm about this right now, but that’s because I spent the whole day crying.” You run your hands through your hair, sighing. “I don’t know what to do.”

“you don’t have to forgive me,” Sans says quietly. “i didn’t come in here expecting you to. i just wanted to explain.”

“I appreciate that.” You offer him a tired smile. “Can you…just give me some time, maybe? Because part of me wants to just leap into your arms and never let go again, but another big part of me is still really hurting, and I think it would be bad for both of us to pretend that doesn’t exist.”

“yeah…okay.”

“We can still text though, all right? Is that a good compromise?” You suddenly look uncertain. “I have no idea how to do this.”

“neither do i. we can work it out together, maybe?”

“That sounds good to me.” 

And you smile at each other, and everything still isn’t all right, but maybe it’s more all right than it was before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *singing* how do i write relationships...im too aro for this crap...


	8. Second Semester, Fourth Class

He texts you as soon as he gets home for the night, because all of a sudden he’s _allowed_. It’s a heady feeling, almost intoxicating.

“miss you”

“it’s been fifteen minutes”

“still.”

You don’t reply after that, but he still goes to sleep with a smile on his face.

The subsequent weeks are awkward as you feel your way around restructuring your relationship with Sans. After about two weeks, he works up the courage to ask to reinstate movie nights. You feel comfortable enough to acquiesce. You start out the first night on opposite sides of the couch, sitting stiffly, and end up resting your head on his shoulder. At that moment, things almost feel normal.

Luckily, Sans no longer has any classes with Dominic, so he doesn’t have to see him anymore. Sure, he tries calling a few times, but then Sans blocks his number. Dominic seems to get the message after that. 

(Okay, and you may have asked Asgore to give Dominic a call of his own. Asgore is, of course, a big softie, but he has an intimidating voice.)

It’s been a month and a half since Sans’ explanation and apology when you laugh and press an impulsive kiss to Sans’ cheek. His cheeks flush a light blue and he turns to you with a shocked expression.

“wait, is that…like…okay now?”

You pink. “Oh. Sorry.”

“no, no need to be sorry, just…” He coughs and looks away. “does this mean if i wanted i could, like…um…kiss you, then?”

You bite your lip, then offer a hesitant, “Sure, I guess.”

He surges into you immediately, like all he’s been waiting for is your permission. You suppose maybe he has. 

Unfortunately, in his enthusiasm, he knocks into your nose hard, and you draw back clutching your nose and moaning.

“crap! sorry! are you okay?”

“Um…” You check your hand, and shake your head. “Not really.”

He waits on the couch with his head in his hands as you get some tissues. You stanch the flow pretty quickly, luckily.

“Why is it my nose always seems to bleed while I’m around you?” you joke. 

He peeks at you, then grins sheepishly. “guess it’s because i’m so drop-dead sexy.”

“Could be,” you say lightly. “Or it could be because of the elevation.”

“cold.”

“As ice, baby.” You give him finger guns and his grin spreads. “But you love me anyway.”

“i do,” he says quietly, and your heart pulses. Neither of you have really said it since before the Incident. 

“Me too,” you respond, and duck your head embarrassedly.

“wait, really?” 

“Yeah?”

“i mean…i didn’t know if you still…if we still…” He starts fidgeting uncomfortably. “i didn’t want to assume, you know?”

You take his hand gently. “I don’t think I ever stopped loving you, even when it was at its worst, Sans. That’s why it hurt so much.”

“i’m sorry,” he says miserably, and you squeeze his hand. 

“Sans, we have to move on at some point.”

“but—“

“It happened, and it sucked. I’m not saying we should forget, just…” You shrug. “Dominic doesn’t deserve to cast a shadow over us for this long.”

He flinches at the mention of Dominic. You pull him into a hug, and he melts into your touch, sighing.

“He’s gone, and I’m still here. And…” You pause. “I forgive you.”

That’s another thing you haven’t said, but it feels like more than the right time. 

He stiffens, then mumbles into your shoulder, “i’m not sure i deserve that.”

“I don’t know what you do or don’t deserve. I don’t think it’s my place to decide. All I know is that I’m not mad at you anymore, and that I love you, and that I want to be with you without anything getting in the way,” you say honestly. “So at some point, you need to decide to forgive yourself, too. Because don’t think I haven’t noticed how jumpy and overly polite you are around me.”

“sorry—“ He begins to apologize again, but you hush him.

“It’s okay. But I don’t need you to change for me. In fact, I’d rather you not.” You draw back and stare into his eyes. “I fell in love with a Sans who was unrepentantly himself, even when it probably wasn’t a good thing. You don’t clean your room, and you’re lazy, and you sleep through movie nights…”

He winces.

You continue, “And you’re the best big brother I’ve ever known, and you protect what’s dear to you to a fault, and you listen to me when I’m sad, and you make me laugh. I want that Sans.”

He considers, then asks, “i mean…what are you asking?”

You run your hands through your hair. “I guess…stop acting like I’m going to leave you if you make one misstep. This is not a probation, it’s a relationship.”

“i don’t know if that’s possible anymore, though. because before i had never even thought i could lose you. but now i have a taste of what it’s like, and it terrifies me.”

“I mean…” You try to find the words for what you want to say. “I know I’m usually the anxious one, but I feel like it won’t do us any good to worry about that. Maybe we’ll break up someday, who knows? But right now we’re together, and I feel like it’s important we make the most of it.”

“easier said than done.”

“True. But we can work on it together, okay?” You smile at him. “I guess I don’t really have a basis for this, but I think everything will work out.”

Instead of answering, he closes the distance between you and kisses you, properly this time. He doesn’t say ‘thank you’, he doesn’t tell you how you’ve changed his life, but he thinks you probably know all that.

Things aren’t always perfect, after that. Midterms come, then finals, and you and Sans both have things you need to work on, and you fight sometimes. But you always find yourselves drawn back to each other. No, things aren’t perfect, but all things considered—they’re pretty dang good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for being with me along the way! you really kept me going when i didn't want to continue this, so thank you. i hope to see you guys in my next fics as well! be well, and best wishes! <3


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